Simba SC coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa has claimed Kaizer Chiefs left them shocked with their master class display in the Caf Champions League fixture on Saturday.
The Msimbazi giants failed to replicate their good form in the group stage of the competition after they suffered a 4-0 defeat against Amakhosi in their quarter-final first leg meeting at FNB Stadium, leaving them with a mountain to climb when they face off again in the return leg at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on May 22.
The Soweto giants celebrated their big win with a brace from Samir Nurkovic, while Erick Mathoho and Leonardo Castro netted one each to help put one foot in the semi-finals.
The French tactician has admitted the level of performance displayed by Chiefs surprised them, insisting they did not underrate their opponent one bit and they lost to a better side on the day.
“It was a master class display by Kaizer [Chiefs] despite not performing well in the local league,” Da Rosa said as quoted by Daily News.
“As I said before the match, Chiefs are a very good team, very good offensively and today [Saturday] they have recorded a clean sheet which proves they are solid. Even with their bad situation in the league, we did not underestimate them.”
Da Rosa further admitted his team was not in good shape and did not deserve to get anything from the fixture but remained optimistic of overturning the result in the return leg.
“There’s no good reason to explain why we lost today [Saturday], we do not have an excuse; we were not tough enough for this kind of match. It is very important to be very aggressive particularly in the aerial duels,” Da Rosa continued.
“We did not play badly particularly in the first half but in the defence, we were not efficient enough."
On whether they can beat Chiefs on Saturday, Da Rosa explained: “It is a tough call but still, it is possible for us to do better and win.
“It is important to believe we can overturn the results but for the result to change in our favour, then we must also be at our very best, we must produce a good game to stand a chance.”
“You need to believe in us that it is possible to win the next match, even though it is going to be very difficult but nothing is impossible.”
